[Jaykobell]

The snow under his paws were starting to burn his pads, and the wind ruffling his fur was starting to chill his skin all the way to the bones. The more they traveled through this forest, the colder it got: or so it felt.

As he reached a sort of crossroad, he stopped. Where to now? It felt like he had seen enough of them already — and some of those trees looked so similar... looked... almost the same?

He narrowed his eyes. Were they the same?

[The Frozen Forest - 1]

[Jaykobell]

"Earthstrike," a tired, soft voice called out behind him.

A white and pink Kuhna approached him. Considering the cold, she made sure to brush her fur against his. It gave them minimal heat, but out here in the open, they welcomed any kind of warmth available.

When he didn't answer her, she spoke again. "Earthstrike," she repeated, "we have to stop for a minute," she said. "We're too tired to keep going, and we have no idea where we're even going." Her ears pressed against the back of her head. "Everything looks and smells the same."

[The Frozen Forest - 2]

[Jaykobell]

Focused on the split in the path, Earthstrike listened, but he didn't answer. His eyes flitted between the two paths.

"Earthstrike!" the female Kuhna hissed, putting a bit more force in her voice in an attempt to catch his attention. "Please."

Finally, he shook his head. He was dejected, too, but through the exhaustion, he tried to keep some determination shining. "The Myu Reaper said it's right through the forest," he pointed out, and finally, he turned to look at her. "He said there's a barn there where we can rest. We can't be that far."

[The Frozen Forest - 3]

[Jaykobell]

Her eyes hardened softly at his words. They had met a strange little Myu Reaper earlier. Already tired from their long journey from home, the Myu Reaper had noticed and offered the knowledge of a large barn close by, just through this frosted forest. "Just go right through," the tiny cat had said. "It's got a fresh coat of paint, and the land is huge. You can't miss it!"

And yes, indeed, they hadn't missed it: because they couldn't even get out of this forest. It felt like they had been walking in circles in it for days.

[The Frozen Forest - 4]

[Jaykobell]

"Earthstrike," she tried to reason once again. Earthstrike, as the elected leader of the group, could be stubborn. Of course, it was for all their sake that he was this way: it went without saying that he wanted nothing more but to push onward so they could find a warm shelter for the night. "Please," she insisted. "Can we at least make a stop here and rest for a bit?"

Earthstrike continued to stare at the split paths, identical trees bordering them all. The more he stared, the more he struggled to decide where to go.

[The Frozen Forest - 5]

[Jaykobell]

His brain felt like jelly. A hard, frozen clump in his head. And after coming to that realization, Earthstrike looked down, and shook his head. "Sorry, Rosecloud," he said quietly. "Let's rest. We won't get anywhere like this."

He sat down on the ground, the snow sending a chill up his spine as he did. Rosecloud looked at him quietly, and then she rubbed her cheek against his. "You can admit that you're tired too, you know," she whispered to him, reeling back and rubbing against him again affectionately. "We won't look down on you for it."

[The Frozen Forest - 6]

[Jaykobell]

Earthstrike purred quietly as Rosecloud snuggled up to him, appreciating both her words and her body heat. "I know you wouldn't," he agreed. "I just don't want to let any of you down." And as leader, it went without saying that the brunt of the responsibilities rested on his shoulders. If he started to falter in their quest, who could they turn on then?

"You will let us down if you overexert yourself," Rosecloud pointed out, pressing her body against his. "What if you get injured or faint because you can't see or think straight? You'll be useless then."

[The Frozen Forest - 7]

[Jaykobell]

Earthstrike purred at her harsh words. "Well, when you put it like that," he purred, his short bob tails twitching in the cold, and his paws trying to find shelter under Rosecloud's longer, fluffier tails. "Harsh, but you're right."

Rosecloud moved her tails so they could cover as much as they could between all their paws. "That's because you only listen to harsh words," she purred in return. "If I coddled you, you wouldn't listen to me, ever," she pointed out, and she gave his cheek a small, quick lick.

[The Frozen Forest - 8]

[Jaykobell]

"Brr! It's freezing in this Crown-forsaken forest!" an irritated mew hissed from behind them, and the two cuddling Kuhnas looked over their shoulders.

Two Kuhnas were edging closer: one stared ahead with hard, unreadable golden eyes; the other visibly shivered, his face contorted with frozen pain from this bone-chilling temperature.

"Earthstrike!" the second Kuhna whined, his paws kicking up into a short dash when he noticed the brown Kuhna sitting down ahead. "What's going on? Is the barn close?" he asked, his eyes shining with disbelief, but also with desperate hope.

[The Frozen Forest - 9]

[Jaykobell]

Earthstrike blinked slowly, returning the Kuhna's stare. He felt bad that he only had bad news to give the Kuhna. "We're resting for a moment," he explained, and then he shook his head. "I don't know where we are, or how far the barn is from here," he admitted.

The Kuhna's face shifted from hopeful to heartbroken. "Seriously?" he whined, and with a pitiful yowl, he slammed his haunches onto the ground. "That Myu Reaper said it was 'right through here!'" he complained. "Did he lie?"

[The Frozen Forest - 10]

[Jaykobell]

Earthstrike shook his head. "I don't think he lied," he said, but he frowned, his eyes narrowing just a little bit in thought. "But it definitely sounds like he left out some important information about this forest."

The shimmering Kuhna sighed, the action exaggerated, as was typical of him and anything he did. "Yeah, well," he huffed for a reply, "that still kinda really sounds like lying. We're completely and utterly lost in here! How were we ever supposed to find our way out of here?"

[The Frozen Forest - 11]

[Jaykobell]

The other Kuhna, who had kept quiet so far, approached the small group. She, too, sat down, in a complete contrast to the other green and yellow Kuhna. Unlike him, her movements were calculated and quiet, her eyes focused on something that seemed to be beyond what they knew and saw.

Looking between the two Kuhnas, Earthstrike realized something. He tilted his head, and he turned to the quite female Kuhna. "Where's Coldclaw?" he asked.

But before she could answer, the other Kuhna answered for her. "He told us he thought he'd heard something weird."

[The Frozen Forest - 12]

[Jaykobell]

He stretched a little as he spoke, his fur and body shivering from the effort and the cold. "Can't imagine what he heard or might've seen in here," he grumbling, sitting back down again. "This forest is weird. And doesn't seem like it's even got anything in it besides snow and ice!"

Earthstrike narrowed his eyes. "He heard something?" he repeated, something not sitting right with him. "How long ago was that?" he asked, a little bit of concern starting to worm its way into his heart.

[The Frozen Forest - 13]

[Jaykobell]

The male Kuhna shrugged. "Just now, when we crossed the last clump of trees."

Earthstrike's face twisted into a pensive, calm grimace. Something didn't feel right about that, and yet, his brain couldn't put a paw on it.

"Howlingwind!" Rosecloud hissed suddenly from next to him, and the male Kuhna froze. "Are you serious? We're lost in this forest, and you let one of us wander off on his own?" she reprimanded, baring her teeth at the male. "And without consulting with Earthstrike? He's our leader!"

[The Frozen Forest - 14]

[Jaykobell]

Howlingwind blinked, staring back at Rosecloud with indignation all over his face. "Yeah, Earthstrike is our leader," he pointed out defiantly. "And what's the big deal? Coldclaw's a sentry. He's just doing his job." He rolled his eyes and grinned. "You scared the snow will get him?"

Rosecloud hissed angrily, and she stood up on all fours in lighting speed, a paw flashing towards Howlingwind's face just as quickly. "This isn't about Coldclaw's abilities! It's about the fact we're lost and this forest isn't right! What if something happens to him?"

[The Frozen Forest - 15]